For eight days from late January through early February, The Globe and globeandmail.com took an extensive look at the Alberta oil sands, the $90-billion mega-project that has changed Canada forever — both internally and in our relations with other countries.
Virtually every major oil company in the Western world has picked up a piece of the action to create what promises to be the biggest industrial project on Earth.
Development of the oil sands has brought incredible riches to the oil companies, the provincial government and many Alberta businesses.
But it has also created environmental problems, sparked debate about growing divisions between the rich and poor in Alberta, and exacerbated long-term trends of inter-provincial migration away from job-challenged regions of Atlantic Canada.
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How did the quest to retrieve the treasure hidden beneath huge swaths of northern Alberta go from fool's errand to monumentous payoff?
The oil sands are seen as a crucial source in a world of increasingly tight supply, where many reserves are in politically volatile regions controlled by undemocratic states. Put another way: Should they disappear tomorrow, one industry expert estimates, the price of oil could jump a third to $130 a barrel.
The value and importance of the oil sands will make that much harder the choices that Albertans and all Canadians suddenly face. Canada has now become a major-league merchant of one of the most desirable – and dirtiest – sources of energy. The money is flowing in, and the profits are rolling out – good news for stockholders, the Canadian dollar and government coffers.
But there are environmental and social costs to stuffing our pockets while the oil speeds south. And Canadians will have to answer a question already being asked by many Albertans: When does a boom become a burden?
In addition, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is fond of saying that Canada is becoming an "energy superpower."
But other countries don't always see us that way.
Our series of articles dealt with all these questions — and many more.
Now, we want to hear from you again.
What do you think of the project? What do you want to know about it?
We're pleased that most of the team of Globe reporters, columnists, foreign correspondents and photographers/videographers who worked on the series were online earlier today to take your questions about the oil sands and the impact of developing them.
Your questions and their answers appear at the bottom of this page.
Our guests were:
Erin Anderssen joined The Globe and Mail in 1997
She has covered politics, crime and social trends, and now writes features for the newspaper.
She has won four National Newspaper Awards, and co-wrote New Canada, a book based on a Globe and Mail special project.
Shawn McCarthy covers global and national energy issues, from public policy matters and international disputes to consumer trends and innovations in alternative energy.
He previously has worked as The Globe's correspondent in New York and served three years as Ottawa bureau chief. He has also covered government finances and economic affairs for The Globe.
Eric Reguly also joined The Globe in 1997, writing the paper's main business column from Toronto. Last April, he became the Globe's European business correspondent, based in Rome.
Eric has won several awards for his work, including, in 2007, the Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism.
David Ebner, a reporter in The Globe and Mail's Calgary bureau, writes about energy and the region in general.
He also writes the Inside Energy blog for reportonbusiness.com, which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the industry.
Doug Saunders, The Globe's London correspondent since 2004, writes the weekly Reckoning column in the Focus Section.
He has worked at The Globe since 1995.
Doug has won the National Newspaper Award four times. He has also won the Stanley McDowell Prize.
Gordon Pitts is a senior writer for the Report on Business who focuses on feature stories, analytical articles and interviews with leading senior executives.
He's the author of four business books, including The Codfathers and Lessons from the Atlantic Business Elite (2005). He is writing a book now on the shift of economic power to Western Canada.
Fred Lum, a staff photographer based in Toronto, shot the stunning series of portrait photos for the newspaper and portrait videos for the Web that were an integral part of this coverage.
He has photographed everyone from suits at King and Bay, to the residents of Davis Inlet. He was also part of the Globe's Olympic coverage at Sydney and Salt Lake City.
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